Matching Items (409)
ContributorsWard, Geoffrey Harris (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-18
Description
A void exists in public administration, criminology, and criminal justice research as it relates to the study of power in American policing agencies. This has significant ramifications for academia and practitioners in terms of how they view, address, study, and interpret behaviors/actions in American policing agencies and organizations in general. In brief, mainstream research on power in organizations does not take into account relationships of power that do not act directly, and immediately, on others. By placing its emphasis on an agency centric perspective of power, the mainstream approach to the study of power fails to recognize indirect power relationships that influence discourse, pedagogy, mechanisms of communication, knowledge, and individual behavior/actions. In support of a more holistic inquiry, this study incorporates a Foucauldian perspective of power along with an ethnographical methodology and methods to build a greater understanding of power in policing organizations. This ethnography of an American policing organization illuminates the relationship between the exercise of power and the objectification of the subject through the interplay of relationships of communication, goal oriented activities, and relationships of power. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that sworn officers and civilian employees are objectified distinctly and dissimilarly. In summary, this study argues that the exercise of power in this American policing organization objectifies the civilian employee as a second class citizen.
ContributorsBentley, Paul C (Author) / Catlaw, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / Musheno, Michael (Committee member) / Lucio, Joanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
On-officer video camera (OVC) technology in the field of policing is developing at a rapid pace. Large agencies are beginning to adopt the technology on a limited basis, and a number of cities across the United States have required their police departments to adopt the technology for all first responders. Researchers have just begun to examine its effects on citizen complaints, officers' attitudes, and street-level behavior. To date, however, there is no research examining how departmental policy and assignment of officers to a camera program affect officer behavior and opinions of the cameras. Policy and assignment have the potential to impact how officers react to the technology and can affect their interactions with citizens on a daily basis. This study measures camera activations by line officers in the Mesa Police Department during police-citizen encounters over a ten-month period. Data from 1,675 police-citizen contacts involving camera officers were subject to analysis. Net of controls (i.e., the nature of the crime incident, how it was initiated, officer shift, assignment, presence of bystanders and backup, and other situational factors), the bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine how departmental policy (mandatory versus discretionary activation policy) and officer assignment (voluntary versus mandatory assignment) affected willingness to activate the cameras, as well as officer and citizen behavior during field contacts.
ContributorsRoy, Allyson (Author) / Ready, Justin (Thesis advisor) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Fox, Kate (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The occupation of policing has long been associated with masculinity. Resistance
to the integration of women into the law enforcement profession stemmed from widely
held beliefs that women were incapable of performing the police function. Although
much has changed in policing, female officers are bombarded with masculine symbols
depicting mostly the agentic characteristics associated with the law enforcement
profession. Or, they are offered socially and culturally constructed definitions of who
they are supposed to be as women as well as what is lacking in them as officers. This
study explores the disparity between how female police officers are viewed, what they
experience, and how they are represented. The perspective of the female officer was
captured, and presented through visual images obtained by participants. Descriptive
coding and thematic analysis converted photographs and written narratives into
participant generated themes and stories. Female officers in this study resisted stereotypic
portraits of women in policing and sought expanded boundaries of inclusion within their
profession. Participants produced some understanding of how women construct their
personal and professional identities relative to gender, as well as the larger roles of
women in society.
to the integration of women into the law enforcement profession stemmed from widely
held beliefs that women were incapable of performing the police function. Although
much has changed in policing, female officers are bombarded with masculine symbols
depicting mostly the agentic characteristics associated with the law enforcement
profession. Or, they are offered socially and culturally constructed definitions of who
they are supposed to be as women as well as what is lacking in them as officers. This
study explores the disparity between how female police officers are viewed, what they
experience, and how they are represented. The perspective of the female officer was
captured, and presented through visual images obtained by participants. Descriptive
coding and thematic analysis converted photographs and written narratives into
participant generated themes and stories. Female officers in this study resisted stereotypic
portraits of women in policing and sought expanded boundaries of inclusion within their
profession. Participants produced some understanding of how women construct their
personal and professional identities relative to gender, as well as the larger roles of
women in society.
ContributorsVeach, Paula (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Kleinsasser, Robert (Committee member) / Rabe-Hemp, Cara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT Following the tragic events of 9-11, top Federal policy makers moved to establish the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This massive realignment of federal public safety agencies also loosely centralized all U.S. civilian security organizations under a single umbrella. Designed to respond rapidly to critical security threats, the DHS was vested with superseding authority and broad powers of enforcement. Serving as a cabinet member, the new agency was administered by a secretary who answered directly to the President of the United States or the national chief executive. At its creation, many touted this agency as a new security structure. This thesis argues that the formation of DHS was not innovative in nature. Rather, its formation was simply the next logical step in the tiered development of an increasingly centralized approach to policing in the United States. This development took place during the early settlement period of Texas and began with the formation of the Texas Rangers. As the nation's first border patrol, this organization greatly influenced the development of centralized policing and law enforcement culture in the United States. As such, subsequent agencies following this model frequently shared a startling number of parallel developments and experienced many of the same successes and failures. The history of this development is a contested narrative, one that connects directly to a number of current, critical social issues regarding race and police accountability. This thesis raises questions regarding the American homeland. Whose homeland was truly being protected? It also traces the origins of the power to justify the use of gratuitous violence and the casting of particular members of society as the symbolic enemy or outsiders. Lastly, this exploration hopes to bring about a better understanding of the traditional directionality of the use of coercive force towards particular members of society, while at the same time, justifying this use for the protection of the rights and safety of others. It is hoped that the culmination of this work will assist American society in learning to address the task of redressing past wrongs while building more effective and democratic public security structures. This is of the utmost importance as the United States continues to weigh the benefits of centralized security mechanisms and expanding police authority against the erosion of the tradition of states' rights and the personal civil liberties of its citizens. Because police power must continually be monitored and held in check, concerns regarding the increasing militarization of civilian policing may benefit from an objective evaluation of the rise of centralized policing as experienced through the development of the Texas Rangers and rural range policing.
ContributorsTurner, D. L., 1957- (Author) / Simpson, Brooks D. (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott H. (Committee member) / Gomez, Alan E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program was mandated legislatively, as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This study replicated earlier research that investigated pilots’ opinions of the current state of the FFDO program based on interviews. A Likert survey was created to allow simpler quantitative collection and analysis of opinions from large groups of pilots. A total of 43 airline pilots participated in this study. Responses to the Likert questions were compared with demographics, searching for significance through a Pearson chi-square test and frequencies were compared to earlier research findings. Significant chi-square results showed that those familiar with the program were more likely to agree the program should continue, it was effective, the screening and selection process of program applicants was adequate and the Federal Air Marshal Service’s management of the FFDO program was effective. Those with Military experience were more likely to disagree it was reasonable that FFDOs were required to pay for their own room and board during training or train on their own time. All those who shared an opinion agreed there should be a suggestion medium between FFDOs and their management. Unlike the prior study, all those familiar with the program agreed the weapons transportation and carriage procedures were adequate. Furthermore, all those who shared an opinion found the holster locking mechanism adequate, which was another reversal of opinion from the prior study. Similar to the prior study, pilots unanimously agree FFDOs were well trained and agreed that the program was effective and should continue.
ContributorsFerrara, Marc, M.S (Author) / Niemczyk, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Nullmeyer, Robert (Committee member) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
In recent years, sex trafficking awareness and intervention have skyrocketed in the United States. The 2016 Polaris Hotline Statistics Sheet reports a drastic increase of reported sex trafficking cases over the span of four years, with only 3,409 cases of human trafficking in 2012 and 8,042 in 2016, 73% of which were specifically sex trafficking cases (Polaris Project, 2016). The incidence of sex trafficking has not increased, but rather, attention to sex trafficking and implementation of legislation has increased awareness and reporting (Farrell et al., 2012). While this rise in public awareness of sex trafficking has positively impacted victim identification, there has not been an increase in convicting sex traffickers (Polaris Project, 2016). According to the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report, 3,000 federal investigations that involved human trafficking, the majority of which specifically involved sex trafficking, were opened in 2015. Of these federal investigations, only 10% led to case prosecutions. Analyzing the relationship of law enforcement, specifically vice units, and victims of sex trafficking is just one of the many ways to address this complex issue. This study consisted of a qualitative analysis of the makeup, training, and policing methods of vice units nationwide. It further aimed to determine the vice officer perceptions regarding the elements that make sex trafficking cases convictable.
ContributorsPradhan, Krishnaa (Author) / Maienschein, Jane (Thesis director) / Kinzig, Ann (Committee member) / Kim, Grace (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
ContributorsBolari, John (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-10-04
ContributorsOftedahl, Paul (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-09-29
Description
This research investigates how the current social stigma of law enforcement officers is established and the effect it has on the future of community-police relations. The research begins by finding the public’s perception of law enforcement over the last 50 years and how the public’s perception of law enforcement has or has not changed in the 21st century. To do this, three eras and one sporadic incident are investigated; the civil rights era, Rodney King incident in 1991, the war on terrorism and the millennial revolution. The idea there is still a large presence of systematic racism and police brutality against minority citizens from the 1960s (civil rights era) until now (millennial revolution) has led to the fall of law enforcement legitimacy. The public’s opinion that law enforcement is not a credible institution is supported by modern influences such as contemporary news networks and public figures. These influences have changed the future generation’s perceptions of law enforcement and promoted the ‘war on cops,’ which alters how law enforcement performs their duties. In response to the negativity built over the last 50 years, police department are working towards building community-police relations to create a positive change. The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) Community Relations Bureau is used as a case study. The PPD was chosen because it is the fastest growing city in the United States and there is personal connection to the author including residency and the opportunity for direct observations and interviews with Phoenix law enforcement personnel. The review of current community-police relation programs in Phoenix only includes three programs for children from seventh grade and up. This has produced the opportunity to create a program that targets elementary aged children. A children’s book, Discovering LEO, helps change the current social stigma of law enforcement through youth education. The story focuses on sharing the positivity of law enforcement officers’ role in the community and how officers are humans just like everyone else. The students who listen to the story learn that police officers are people to trust when you need help, even when the television is sharing negative rhetoric about law enforcement. The story also aims to teach children that the person inside the law enforcement uniform may also be a parent, spouse, friend, and/or neighbor, in addition to their role as a police officer.
ContributorsSchwanz, Morgan L. (Author) / McClelland, Blake (Thesis director) / Johnston, Coy (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05